AuctionWire

Fort Lauderdale, Dallas and Orange County Among Markets for Sellers, as 42 Percent of U.S. Shoppers Turn to Sites Like eBay During Tight Times

SAN JOSE, Calif-Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is known for more than just its hot beaches: It’s also one of the hottest locations for Americans selling goods on eBay. The fun-in-the-sun vacation destination is a top-10 selling market¹ for the online retailer, with residents there generating over $630 million in gross merchandise volume (GMV) or sales last year, according to a study of eBay marketplace activity across the United States.

NEW BUILDING MEETS GOLD STANDARD FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Today eBay burnishes its green credentials, dedicating an energy-efficient building on its North First Street campus.Building 17, which will get a name like Earth or Eco today, has the largest commercial solar roof in San Jose, the company says. It's the first new building the 13-year-old online auction company has ever built.EBay is all about making inefficient markets efficient, said Gary Dillabough, its general manager of corporate environmental initiatives, and the company applied that philosophy to Building 17."When you talk to employees, I'm surprised by how excited they are about it," Dillabough said. "I had a woman say, 'I just feel as if this is a healthier building. I feel better in this building.' "Building 17 will be dedicated today in a ceremony featuring eBay Chief Executive Officer John Donahoe, PayPal President Scott Thompson and San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed.

By Matt Nauman

Hello everyone...as we announced back in January, we're making some bold changes to how Feedback on eBay works. As we get closer to our launch, I wanted to review the changes we've discussed and provide some additional detail and updates. As a recap, here's what we announced in January that is scheduled to launch the week of May 19th in North America (which includes eBay.com in the US, as well as eBay.ca and eBay.cafr in Canada)

eBay Announcement

eBay is holding its annual stockholders meeting on June 19, 2008, at 8:00 am Central time in Chicago, the morning it kicks off its annual eBay Live conference in the same city. There are three proposals scheduled to be voted on at the Annual Meeting

By Ina Steiner

Scott Thompson was named President of PayPal earlier this year, and joined AuctionBytes to talk about the big-picture view of eBay's online payment service. In an Ecommerce Industry Soundbytes podcast, Thompson talked about the competitive landscape in online payments and PayPal's focus in the next 12 - 24 months. He also shares his thoughts on eBay's Safe Payments policy, including what the PayPal-only policy on eBay Australia means for the rest of the world. Thompson said he is committed to Safe Payments in Australia because it offers compelling reasons for both sellers and buyers, making it safer and more convenient.

By Ins Steiner

Sellers could hardly believe their eyes when they read eBay's January 29 manifesto announcing radical changes to the auction site, especially the news that, beginning in May, sellers would no longer be able to leave buyers negative or neutral feedback. eBay posted an update on Wednesday, giving sellers more details - and dropping another bombshell. eBay will no longer allow Mutual Feedback Withdrawal, a procedure that lets buyers and sellers withdraw their feedback ratings by mutual consent. In addition, sellers will no longer be able to use SquareTrade's online dispute resolution service to aid in feedback removal.

By Ina Steiner